What is to come?
by The Merry Chaser
Summary: Post Inception job. The team decide to stay together, even without Cobb. As the new leader of sorts, Arthur has to deal with the ups and downs of the jobs he faces, even if they may put his teammates in danger; even Ariadne. A/A, more plot to follow.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Saw Inception a couple days ago, and fell in love instantly with the movie, and this couple just makes my heart melt. It's been a long time since I've written anything, so I hope you guys enjoy. ;D

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything.

"What are you going to do now, Ariadne?" Arthur spoke solemnly toward the young architect who had raised her head from her luggage to get a good look at the point man's expression.

It had only been a few moments since they realized that Cobb wasn't going to come back, and that he would be stuck wherever he had landed himself- but to some degree, every member of the team felt relief for him. He was finally content with himself- wherever he may have ended  
up. They could all feel that sort of contentment when they got off that plane and realized the job had been completed and there was no more danger lurking behind every corner. Each one of them fiddled with their totems; flicking, rolling, flipping; anything to help them gain a grip on the reality that had just been set back into motion after being held up in three consecutive dreams at once.

Ariadne gave her Bishop an extra squeeze before finally releasing it from her death grip, returning to Arthur's question. "Honestly...I really don't know..." She gazed down once more, peering at her luggage that looked especially boring now that they had nowhere else to go but home, wherever that was; she thought. "After all of this it's somewhat hard for me to think of school as exciting anymore. Through all of this, it's hard to think of anything as interesting or exciting anymore..." She stuck her chin out a little to get a better look at the rest of the team, who had surrounded each other.

Arthur looked down at the petite girl who he had grown rather fond of through the past months they had been working together. "Isn't it interesting how bland our lives seem when there isn't a  
dream for us to be lurking in?" He gave a small chuckle before Eames joined in, "Now now, Darlings; my life wasn't that boring before this job." Arthur looked briefly at Eames before they all continued to laugh. "Eames, you were in a foreign country doing god only knows what-" "Gambling I'm going to assume." Ariadne surprisingly caught on to what the forger had hiding beneath his cloak. "Hey now, let's not all gang up on the Brit here." Eames defended. "Who says we have to break up the team anyhow..?" Yusef interjected joyously.

They all looked at each other one final time before the Point Man, now seemingly the boss of sorts; spoke up again. "Ariadne, it's up to you whether you'd like to stay or not. The rest of the team and I have already discussed post Inception matters, but we assumed you would want to return to your studies, which I would hate to pull you away from."

The Forger sighed and spoke truthfully, "We'd love for you to stay, Darling. I mean you are the only one who can keep peace between us all, and we are all very fond of you and see you as sort of the glue of our team..." Eames smiled kindly toward the young girl, who was seemingly overwhelmed by all the kind gestures and remarks.

"Ari, you don't have to stay if you feel going back to school is what's best for you, but Eames is right, we're going to miss you. I've never in my life met another architect like you, and I'd hate to have to hunt for another anywhere near your talent level; and who could possibly put up with us all, and have the same personality you do. You're irreplaceable." Ariadne wasn't caught off guard by the nickname as much as she was thrown off by his somber expression, an expression that she hadn't ever seen on Arthur's face; and almost never wanted to see again.

"..How can I possibly say no to all of you? When's our next job?" With that, Eames head locked the short architect and ruffled her hair while Yusef chuckled happily beside them. Arthur looked back at all three of them, and just continued to smile; but his smile seemingly grew and he too was laughing a little to himself.

"I'm sure Saito will probably have some more work for us sooner or later; why don't we all just..Go home." the word 'home' slipped from Arthur's lips so effortlessly that it made his heart feel somewhat warm and it did the same thing to Ariadne. "Home..." she reiterated; "I have a home.."

After a few long car rides, and an emergency bathroom stop somewhere completely off track from where they were supposed to be; they arrived 'home' at the warehouse.

Arthur was the first to step in, as the rest of the team seemingly sidestepped the entrance so that the point man could take his appointed leadership to the next level by being the first to enter. He sighed once more as he let the blatant fact of Cobb's absence sink in. Ariadne came up beside him and put her hand on his arm, tugging a little. Words were hallow in a moment like this, so they refuse to utter any.

Eames hurried in with his bags in hand and tossed them every which way, pulling Arthur reluctantly out of his thoughts. "Hey let's not get carried away here. We all need to designate areas accordingly; this isn't going to be a fun house." Authority rang through in the point  
man's tone as he spoke toward his team. _His team_, he thought again.

"So are we all going to live here or what? If I remember correctly, Ariadne; don't you have a place of your own not far from here, same as you, Arthur?" Yusef finally spoke up after lugging his bags in from the van outside.

"I don't think my landlord is going to be too happy with me for not paying the rent for the last few months..." Ariadne let out a nervous laugh that shook a little in her throat.  
"I sold my apartment when Cobb and I decided on the Inception job." With this, the problem was then solved, "So, this means we're all staying here! How lovely!" Eames let his excitement ring in his tone as he lounged himself comfortably on one of the rickety lawn chairs.

Ariadne stopped Arthur before he could protest against Eames' actions and spoke up, "First things first, we're getting new furniture for this godforsaken dump...no offense." she looked at Arthur. "None taken, this place is horrid."

"So what is the beautiful little architect going to design for this bloody hell hole of a warehouse? Something better then these retched metal traps you call chairs, I hope?" The Brit had a point, Ariadne thought. "Give me a couple days and I'll have the place all designed up and ready to be redone, okay?" She finished with a noticeable yawn that caught everyone's attention. "Someone's sleepy." Eames added.

"C'mon you, let's get you settled somewhere so you can sleep." Arthur pulled lightly on her elbow as she continued to yawn once more, making it harder for the point man to keep himself from yawning, as well. They exited the main room and made their way into a side room where a couch had been placed conveniently for Arthur to sleep on when he decided to actually sleep on those long nights of researching. "Here, there's a blanket here too." He spoke softly as he could see her eyelids drifting down. "You'll be okay here, right?" Ariadne couldn't utter anything over a mumble before she was taken over by sleep, by her own dreams. "..Enjoy those dreams while you can, Ari..." Arthur whispered as he laid a blanket over her shoulders, watching her  
retreat into a curled up position on the couch. 

Three hours had past, and by this time the rest of the team had all passed out in their own secluded areas of the warehouse, all aside from one. Arthur sat awake as ever in front of his laptop, typing away at something seemingly important. The point man had leaned back and looked satisfied with what was typed on the screen before him when he heard a faint whimper from the other room. His ears perked up and he raised his head higher, hearing the whimper again; this time a little louder. He knew where it was coming from, and who it was.

Arthur rose from his chair and walked quietly toward the couch where he had laid Ariadne down not but three hours ago, to only see her cowering on one end of the couch, still curled up but this time her face was strained. Ariadne's eyes were tightly tucked shut, eyebrows furrowed and her face so crunched together it looked as if it hurt. Tears were slipping from her eyes and she let out another pitiful whimper that made even Arthur want to burrow his face in a pillow and cry. He looked down longingly at her, crouching down to her level, and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "Ari..." She was trembling, and it frightened Arthur slightly due to her lack of response. "Ariadne.. c'mon wake up." He gentle nudged her again, this time with a little more force. Suddenly, without any warning; Ariadne's eyes bolted open and she stared out into the darkness of the warehouse, unaware of what was going on and where she was.

She breathed heavily and focused on the face that was before her, "It's okay it's okay, it's just me, Arthur..." She gasped and tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Arthur placed a hand gently on her face, wiping away a few of the salty tears from her cheek.

"I was afraid of this..." he spoke softly as her breaths started to even out."I'm still afraid that we're not awake yet, Arthur. I'm afraid you and I aren't real and that we were and never will be  
real..."

"Where's your totem?" He spoke through the darkness. Ariadne proceeded to pull out her shiny golden totem out of her pocket, as Arthur did the same. "Do it with me," he instructed as he rolled his die and watched her flick her bishop on the ground. The totems reacted the same, they both reassured them that what was going on just then was in fact real. "We're as real as real gets, Ari. Our totems say so, themselves."

He placed his hand once more on her small porcelain-like face, gently rubbing his thumb down her cheek. She closed her eyes and sighed into his hand, letting one last tear fall before she looked up at him again.

"How long are these nightmares going to last, Arthur...They terrify me." Ariadne spoke almost silently in the bleak darkness that was the warehouse, as Arthur ran his thumb over her face once more.

"I can't answer that, but if you get scared I'm always near, don't forget that." He let his hand fall from her face as he began to see her eyelids droop down again.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep?" She asked innocently, closing her eyes cautiously. "Of course." He assured her as he took a seat down on the floor, leaning his head back against the couch as she rested her hand near his face. Before either of them knew it, they were both fast asleep.

**A/N:** Don't worry; the plot should appear in the next chapter. I'm just making sure I set up the mood and such for everything that is to come in the next chapter. Thanks for reading guys, please review so I can hear what you guys think! More fluff next chapter ;DD


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

Ariadne could feel a steady breath against her hand, slowly waking her from her peaceful slumber, realizing that the man who had so easily brought her back to comfort from her distress was still asleep, surprisingly.

She opened her eyes slowly, letting Arthur's face come into complete focus. His sharp jaw line and slicked back hair were ever present as Ariadne took in his features. She sighed briefly, quickly regretting it seeing how it made him stir a little in his peaceful state.

Arthur was indeed asleep, but he wasn't dreaming; Ariadne concluded. His handsome face lacked expression entirely, and she knew how hard it was for her to dream after the Inception job, and this was only her first.

Arthur's face was leaning slightly toward Ariadne's small hand, or against it, even. She smiled sweetly before letting her index finger run down his cheek, as gently as possible so not to wake him. Much to Ariadne's dismay, this simple action did bring the point man out of his slumber.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She whispered, watching his long fan of eyelashes rise to reveal his extremely perceptive orbs that glistened in the dim sunrise.

The point man blinked hard and looked toward Ariadne once more, realizing again where he had stayed that night. He smiled at her, sweetly; "It's alright, it's probably best that I'm awake anyhow." Arthur looked down at his wrist watch briefly before looking back to her, "My watch would have woken me up, regardless. Did you sleep alright?" he asked her simply, as he cracked his neck, first to the left then right.

"Yeah, I slept fine. Thanks to you I suppose." Ariadne paused for a moment then continued, "Did you sleep alright?" By this time, Arthur was standing and brushing off his suit from sitting on the dusty floor. "Actually, yes I did. That was probably the most sleep I'm going to get in a long time."

Before Ariadne could counter, he had started to walk away from the couch. "If I remember correctly, I think the young architect has a disgusting old warehouse to redesign, or am I mistaken?" and with another wink, Arthur left the room; leaving Ariadne to her thoughts that she knew would inevitably end up back to the point man, and not her designs.

Weeks went by and Ariadne had hardly moved herself from that room with a couch and a very small desk, other than to get supplies or measurements. (In which most of the time she would holler at the others for.) When the third week rolled by and it seemed as if everyone was getting settled, Ariadne finally made an appearance.

"I think I finally finished.." She said with a faint yawn in her tone. Arthur looked up from his desk and gazed in her direction. "Well than let's see these designs!" Eames exclaimed from his seat not far from Arthur's desk. Yusef soon appeared into the room as well, as they all gathered around the young architect and her designs.

"Wow, these look fantastic Darling!" the british forger squealed a little too loud in Ariadne's ear, as she turned away from him instinctively. "These truly are wonderful, Ariadne. We should definitely get these in motion as soon as possible!" Yusef was just as caught up in the moment as Eames was. Arthur, on the other hand; was more concerned about Ariadne.

Her face was paler and her eyes sank low in their sockets, and dark patches of grey lingered under her beautiful eyes. He wondered if he sleeping against that couch every night was even doing anything for her. It was true it kept her calm and she felt safe, but was she actually sleeping soundly, he thought.

Taking the plans from Ariadne's hands, Arthur laid them on the table before them and looked back to Ariadne; while the other two were in awe of her designs. "I want you to go sleep, alright? Now that we have the designs we'll take care of it from here. Please, you look so tired I feel like I should forcefully make you sleep." He held her shoulders tightly as if she was going to collapse right then and there. "Arthur I can't sleep right now..." she said with another yawn, this time much more noticeable.

"Bullshit, go sleep." speaking firmly, Arthur ushered her off to the couch; making sure she got there without falling sleep on the way. "Do you want me to stay or..?" He questioned her gently. "I think I can manage..." and with that, her eyes closed shut and her face seemed finally at ease.

"Alright you two, let's get to work."

Another week passed and the guys had hardly let Ariadne do much of anything. Aside from a simple question here or there about her designs, she felt useless. Ariadne's patience was growing thin and she was dying to see what was going on, but before she could even leave her designated room, Arthur beat her to it.

"So are you ready to see it now?" He inquired enthusiastically with a grin perched on his handsome face. Ariadne was taken back a little by the sheer eagerness in his tone.

"It's done..?"

"Of course, who do you think we are; lazy bums?" Eames' voice could be heard from the other room with the same eagerness ringing in his tone. Yusef looked at Eames, questioningly. "Hey, don't give me that look I'm not lazy!" Eames argued as Yusef laughed to himself.

When Arthur guided Ariadne into the main room, she was stunned by what they had accomplished in such a short time. Her mouth hung open slightly, gazing around the room to see her designs that had been brought to life.

Each piece of her design, each aspect of it had been met so perfectly it made her giddy. The large main floor of the warehouse had been split up into three different sections, living area, kitchen of sorts, and a section that was divided again in three for separate bedrooms. The floor had been redone completely, windows replaced, and lights reinstalled.

A small black spiral staircase led up to a loft where an office was and another bedroom were placed. The loft wrapped around the whole warehouse, creating an additional level to the building. Modern black leather furniture were placed in the exact same locations that Ariadne had put them in her sketches. The whole place had a very modern look to it, and there was a place for everyone now.

"No more lawn chairs!" Eames broke the silence of Ariadne's astonishment. "Yeah and we all have beds now!" Yusef added excitedly. Arthur looked down at her expression, finding it simply priceless. His right hand perched itself on the small of her back, slowly pushing forward, urging her to say something.

"It's amazing!" She finally spoke up after another minute of silence. Each one of the teammates' expressions was one of relief. "You scared us there for a moment, Darling. We thought we goofed up on the design." the englishman sighed, taking his rightful seat in one of the leather chairs.

"I have one more thing to show you." Ariadne had almost forgotten Arthur's presence on her back, as his whisper warmed her ear. He guided her up the spiral staircase to the loft, "I don't remember designing this..." she stated.

"Thats because you didn't design it..." he trailed off, letting her get a good look at what was in-front of her. "I did." he finished, taking in her excited expression as she peered around the room.

In the room had a beautifully designed drafting table, and a large lamp lingering over it, but this wasn't what caught Ariadne's eye, it was the floor to ceiling book shelves that were filled to the brim with books.

"They're all architect books, obviously. I figured that if you couldn't be at school; why not learn here? I contacted your professor and explained everything to him, and he gave me a very..very long list of books that he recommended, and I took the liberty in buying the whole sets, rather than just the single books themselves; that way-"

Before Arthur could finish, he was seized up in a warm embrace with Ariadne, who's gratitude could be seen on her face more plainly than white on paper. She hugged him tightly, catching the point man off guard, but he soon let his features soften; and hugged her back.

"..Thank you" She muffled into his sleek suit jacket, burrowing her face deeper into it, inhaling his familiar sent.

"This is your place, too. You should feel just at home here as any of us." He rested his chin on her head, taking in her sent as well, remembering it to be something of strawberries and vanilla. "And now you won't have to sleep on that nasty old couch, you actually have a bed now." He assured her, breaking their embrace a little to look down at her.

Ariadne's mind quickly raced to what she dreaded every day, sleep. She didn't exactly enjoy sleeping on the old couch, but she knew that if she had her own bed; then Arthur wouldn't be able to help her get to sleep the way they had routinely done. Ariadne shook her head slightly, throwing her childish fears away for the time being. Why was she acting like a two-year-old? Always needing someone there, how sad; she convinced herself.

Ariadne finished her look with an excited expression, and ran over to the edge of the loft railing. "It looks amazing guys! You did better than I expected!" Ariadne kept her balance against the railing while hollering down at the two other teammates.

"I take offense to that!" Eames exclaimed back, "You didn't expect us to do well?" He inquired.

"You're men, I don't think you can do much of anything without getting distracted by something, but you proved me wrong!" She finished, smiling sweetly down at them.

A few hours went by and after a while Ariadne noticed Arthur wasn't joining them for dinner, which they had picked up from an italian place down the block. She rose from her seat and walked toward his room, still familiarizing herself with the new floor plan. "Arthur..?" his name echoed a little in his room, where she found him peering down at his laptop once more; this time with a more serious expression.

"We got another job." He hesitated to look back at her, but when he finally did he found her expression to be conflicted. "He's going to come by the warehouse tomorrow and give us details.." trailing off, Arthur rose from his chair seeing Ariadne's expression change once more.

"Is this job going to be easier?" She questioned while peering down at her shoes, escaping his gaze. "I hope so." Arthur felt the mood of the room completely take a turn as he saw tears swelling in Ariadne's eyes.

"I don't want to lose anyone else, Arthur." She choked out, looking up sternly at the point man, searching for an answer in his eyes.

"I know, I know." He brought her into another warm embrace, this time more solemn than the last. He rubbed small circles in her back, trying to sooth her. Ariadne gained control of her emotions, and backed away from his arms reluctantly.

"I'm still afraid to sleep," she finally let out. "The inception job..it really freaked me out that someone could seemingly get into anyones dreams and alter them so flawlessly. It makes me question everything, and when I do dream; its nightmares I have. Nightmares of being stuck in the dream and not being able to escape it. I can't.." she trailed off clutching onto Arthur's white collared shirt, trying not to let all her emotions spill out.

"I'll stay with you until these nightmares subside, alright?" Arthur reassured her gently. "You have your own room now, though. Your own bed you should sleep in-" "Ari, have you not notice that I hardly sleep anyway? I'm much more concerned about you than I am my own sleeping patterns." He interrupted in a faint whisper, looking down at the young girl who looked especially frightened.

He continued, "And when you do have your nightmares, I'll be the one to bring you out of the dream, so you'll never be stuck in it." His tone softened like this only when he talked to her, Ariadne concluded. He held her closer and continued to assure her that things would be alright, even if he wasn't so sure about that himself.

By the time the architect and the point man had finished their discussion, the other two teammates had long since passed out on the comfortable leather sofa and chair. "Why did I even bother designing bedrooms?" Ariadne questioned, laughing off the serious mood that was still lingering over them. "C'mon." Arthur led Ariadne to her bedroom that was right next to her personal study.

Just as the first night they had returned home, and the nights after that; Ariadne laid down on the bed, finding it to be very comfortable opposed to the old couch she had called home the past three or so weeks, while Arthur took his normal spot; leaning against the side of the bed, resting his head against her hand gently. She ran her index finger down his cheek again, same as she did every morning; and with that she was fast asleep.

Arthur, surprisingly drifting in and out of sleep; still wondered about the new job that they had been given. He concerned himself with the team's well-being, now that Cobb was gone; it was his job to take care of them. All of them. The responsibility lingered on his shoulders and made him miss his partner even more; but he knew that dwelling on what had happened wasn't important now. Arthur knew what he planned on doing to get Cobb back; and that would happen in time, he decided; what was important was this new job, and the subject matter of the job that alarmed Arthur so much.

_"I've lost something, and I need you to find it for me..can you do that?" _

**A/N: **More plot to follow, DON'T WORRY C:


End file.
